“The
study area for consideration of impacts on marine plants and
invertebrates includes the open ocean west of Washington, Oregon, and
Northern California….Aircraft overflight and training activities are
assumed to have no impacts to marine communities, because impacts of
sound on plants and invertebrates are unknown and difficult to quantify.”

The question of past and current Naval activities is highly significant. For
example, the EIS acknowledges that past and present activities off the
Oregon coast have involved the use of rounds comprised of depleted
uranium. Uranium, depleted or otherwise, is an exceptionally persistent
material in the environment. The EIS revelations of Navy use of
depleted uranium thus raise very serious concerns about how long the
Navy has been using depleted uranium rounds in the Pacific Ocean, how
much was used per year, where that use has occurred, and what
environmental impacts have already accrued from such use, such as uptake
by fish and synergistic effects with other wastes and products from
Naval exercises. The EIS mentions none of these issues.